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77th Foot

The name Atholl Highlanders dates to the formation of
the 77th Regiment of Foot by the 4th Duke in 1777. The
regiment was formed as a relief for other regiments serving in
North America, and spent most of its existence in Ireland. The terms upon which
the regiment was raised stated that the men were to be employed for
either three years or the duration of the war in America. In 1781,
the original three-year term ended, and the men expected the
regiment to be disbanded. However, the regiment was transported to
England and marched to Portsmouth to be embarked for service in the
East Indies. Upon
learning of this, the men mutinied, and the embarkation orders were
countermanded. The regiment was marched to Berwick,
where it disbanded in 1783.

Atholl
Highlanders

More than 50 years later, in 1839, the 6th Duke, as Lord
Glenlyon, resurrected the regiment as a bodyguard which he took to
a tournament at Eglinton
Castle, Ayrshire.
Three years later, in 1842, the regiment escorted Queen Victoria during
her tour of Perthshire. In 1844, when the Queen stayed
as a guest of the Duke at Blair Castle, the regiment mounted the
guard for the entire duration of her stay. In recognition of the
service that the regiment provided during her two visits, the Queen
announced that she would present the Atholl Highlanders with colours, thus giving the
regiment official status. The regiment's first stand of colours was
presented by Lady Glenlyon on behalf of the Queen in 1845. It
received new colours in 1979 from Mrs David Butter, the wife of the
Lord Lieutenant of
Perth and Kinross. A third stand of colours was presented in
2006 by the Duchess of Atholl.

Under the 7th Duke, the
regiment regularly provided guards for royal visitors to Blair
Castle (which was a convenient stopping point on the journey to Balmoral). The
regiment also attended the Braemar Gathering, while an annual gathering
was held in the first week in September in which the regiment
paraded, then participated in various trials of strength and
stamina. Following the First World War,
parades of the regiment became fewer, although it did provide
guards when the Crown Prince
of Japan and King Faisal of Iraq visited Blair
Castle in 1921 and 1933 respectively[1]. After
1933, there was little activity, and it seemed the regiment would
disappear into obscurity until, in 1966, it was reformed by the 10th Duke, who made the decision to revive
the regiment's annual parade. It was feared that the regiment would
be disbanded following his death in 1996, until his successor, the
present Duke, wrote to the estate trustees insisting that he would
continue his traditional role.[2]

The regiment
today

Today, the Atholl Highlanders is a purely ceremonial regiment,
of approximately 100 men, including pipes and drums.
This regiment has no connection, except the name, with the 77th
Foot of 1777. The regiment wears the tartan of the Clan Murray of Atholl and has as its cap
badge the clan arms approved by the Duke, which it wears along with
a sprig of juniper, which is
the clan's plant, and is presented by the Duke on his annual
inspection. The regiment is responsible for the defence of Blair
Castle, the surrounding estate and its inhabitants, but in practice
usually only parades twice a year at the regiment's annual
inspection when the present Duke comes from his
home in South
Africa to inspect his men, and the Atholl
GatheringHighland Games, which is hosted by the
Duke, on the last weekend in May. However, there are certain other
occasions when the Duke permits the regiment to parade, such as
royal visits to Blair Castle (when the regiment would serve as the
guard), or on tours overseas. A notable instance occurred during
the Year of Homecoming in 2009,
when all of Scotland's clans took part in a parade in Edinburgh. This was the
first time that the regiment had paraded in the Scottish capital in
nearly 30 years.[3] The
regiment is usually stood down between January and May of each
year, depending on whether new recruits are invited to join.
Normally, the regiment's training starts at the beginning of May,
in preparation for the Atholl Gathering at the end of the month;
however, if new recruits join, they must gain a standard of foot
and arms drill before being permitted to parade with the rest of
the regiment, which they practise between January and March[4].

Atholl Highlanders
Pipes and Drums USA

The Atholl Highlanders Pipes and Drums USA is a
pipe band resident in Stone Mountain, Georgia. This was formed in 1981,
and was granted permission by the 10th Duke to wear the Murray of
Atholl tartan and to be his "Unit in the Colonies". The
band has no official connection beyond this to the Atholl
Highlanders. The Atholl Highlanders USA has the distinction of
being the first pipe band to play at the Super Bowl, when it appeared at Super Bowl
XXXIV.